IIISTORY OF WITH .l PI.AN. BY S. SWETT. .SrconiJ iZtrftfon. MUCH ENLARGED WITH NEW INFORMATION DERIVED FROM THE SURVI­ VING SOLDIERS PRESENT AT THE CELEBRATION ON TB!l 17!l'B .JVNJl :LAST, AND :SOTES. BOSTON: )IUNROE AKD FRANCIS, 128 WASHINGTON-STnEE'l', 1826. DISTRICT OF MJ.SSJ.CBUSETTS, TO 'WIT : Dist,·ict Cler'fc', O.ffic•· BE it remembered, that on the ninth day of September, A.D.1818, in the forty-third year of the Independence of the United States of Am•rica, Samuel Swett of the said District, has deposited in this Office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit : Historical and topographieal Sketch ofBunker Hill Batlle, with a plan. By S. Swett. In conformity to the act of the Congress of the Unit~d States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors ... an~ proprietors of such copie~, during the times therein mentioned:" and also to an _act, _ entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of learnrng, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extendin~ the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching, historical and other prints.'' JOHN W. DAVIS, Clerk of th• District of Massachmeltl, PRELll\lINARY CHAPTER. PREBLE,* Ward, Pomeroy, Thomai, Heath, and Whit­ comb, were appointed by the l\lass. Congress generals of the militia, some detachments of which, having defeated the ene­ my at Lexington and driven them into Boston, could no longer be retained in quarters. Only five days after the battle, Gen. \Vard writes Congress, that, unless they furnished him with enlisting orders immediately, he should be left entire­ ly alone. The day before, however, that body had resol­ ved, that an army of thirty thousand was necessary ;­ that 1\lassachusetts would raise thirteen thousand six hun­ of the number ; and that the other New England States should have notice given them, and be requested to furnish their respective proportions. But the battle of Lexington was a beacon fire to the neighbouring states. The hardy yeomen, whom rage supplied with arms, did not wait to be summoned by the tardy process of legislation ; they seized their hunting pieces, and flew to join their brethren at the scene of danger. The Committee of Safety, elected anew by Congress at every session, were the real executive of :Massachusetts.t They were empowered generally to watch over the safety of the commonwealth, and advise Congress of such measures as they thought beneficial, and expressly commissioned : " To assemble such and so many of the Militia and them to dispose and place where and detain so long as said Committee shall judge necessary, and discharge said 1\lilitia when the safe­ ty of the Colony will admit. And the officers of the said Mi­ • Futher of Com. Preble, who did 111:ll accept. t Tbe members were now John Hancock and Benjamin Greenleaf, who never took their seats ; John Pigeon, and Enoch Freeman, seldom present ; and Joseph Warren, chairman, Benjamin Church, Benjamin White, Joseph Palmer, Abraham Watson, Samuel Holten, Azor Orne, Nathan Cushing, and Richard Devens.-Secrelary, Jonathan Hastings. 4 BUNKER HILL BATTLE. litia are enjoined to obey the orders and directions of sai_<l Committee of Safety. And also to direct the army of this Colony to be stationed where said Committee of Safety shall judge most conducive to the defence and service of this Colo­ ny, and the general and other officers of the army _are reque~t­ ed to render strict obedience to such orders of said Commit­ tee ; but Congress have power to control any order of the Committee of Safety. Also to nominate persons to Congress to be commissioned officers in the army and to give enlisting orders to such persons as they think proper. And if any offi­ cers be ready to be commissioned agreeable to the resolve of this Congress during the recess of the same the Committee shall fill up and deliver to them commissions to be furnished s~id Committee in blank for that purpose." ··· This committee distributed beating or enlisting orders to those \.\-hom they thought qualified to raise recruits. The num-· ber of a company was reduced from one hundred to fifty-nine ; any one who enlisted this number was entitled to a captain's commission ; and he who procured ten companies to serve un­ d_er him commanded the regiment. Mass. Congress issued an eloquent address to the people, recruits came in with spirit, and by the middle of June the New England army of citizen soldiers~ enlisted for a few months,* amounted to about fifteen thousand. Of these about ten thousand were of Massachusetts ; anima­ ted with the same love of liberty which inspired the whole, they were the most thoroughly instructed in the rectitude of their cause by Otis, who led the forlorn hope of the rev­ olution, Jno. Adams, Quincy, Hancock, Sam'l Adams, and others. They were fightin; battles peculiarly their own, in defence of their wives, children and homes, and had that war­ lik~ reputation to support, which they and their fathers ac­ qmred from continued triumphs over ferocious savages, and recent success at Nova Scotia and Louisbourg over European troops.t · * Conn. and R. I. to Dec. ; Ma,1. to Jan. f 111ASS. REGIMENTS AND FIELD OFFICERS. From Colonel,. Lt. Coloneu. Major,. .A.t Worcester. Hon.Artemas Ward. Jonathan Ward. Edw.Bai,;s, Tim. Bigelow. Cambrid~e. l'lymoutli. lion. John Thomas. John Bailey. Tbos. lllitcbell, Jno•.Jacobs. Roxbury. Bristol. · Timothy Walker. Natb'I Leonard. Abie! Mitchell. Do. l'lymoutb. Theophilus Cotton. Ichabod Alden. Ebenezer Sprout. Do. Worcester. Asa ,vhitcomb. Josiah Whitney. Ephraim Sawyer. Cambridge, Do. Joseph Read. Ebene,er Olapp. Calvin Smith. Roxbury. Essex. John Mansfield. lsr'l Hutchinson. Ezra l'utnam. Cambridge. BUNKER HILL BATTL~. 5 i\Iass. Congress, on the lOtlJ l\Iay, ordered, a regiment of artillery to be raised, it was scarcely organized yet ; the train consisted of one six, two brass,* and six iron three-pound can­ non. Col. Richard Gridley, Lt. Col. Wm. Burbeck, l\Iajors David Mason and Scarborough Gridley, were the field offi­ cers.t Rhode-Island had sent a regiment to l\Iassachusetts imbued with the determined spirit of civil and religious liberty, which the founder of their state maintained through every peril. Colonel Green ·was their commander, one of the most prom­ ising heroes of the revolution. The elements of a soldier were so mixed in him, that his elevated rank among distinguished warriors was already anticipated. Under him were Lieut.Col. Olny and l\Iaj. Box,t an experienced English soldier. An artillery company. with four field-pieces was attached to the corps. The hardy yeomanry of New Hampshire, beneath whose strokes the lofty forests and their savage inhabitants had been levelled with the dust, who had been used to little control but From Colonel,. Lt. Colonel,. MaJori•. At Wor.&Ham. Timothy Daoielsoll, Wm. Sheppard, David Leonard. Roxbury, Middlesex. William Prescott, John Robinson. Henry W O?d, Cambridge. Essex, James Frye. James Brickett. Thomas Poor. Do. Middlesex. Ebenezer Bridge. Moses Parker. John Brooks, Do. B~rkshire, John Patterson, Seth Read. Jeremisb Cady. Do. lllaine, James Scamman. Johnson Moulton. Da»iel Wood. Do, Wor.&Berk, Ebenezer Learned. Danforth Keyes, Jonalhan Holman, Roxbur1, l\tiddlesex, Thomas Gardner. William Bond, J\1ichael Jackson, Cambridge. Do. & Wor. John Nixon. Thomas Nixon. Jolin Butterick. Do, Ham.&Berk, Jgbn Fellows. Nathan Eager. Benjamin Tupper. Roxbury. · Worcester. Epbraim Doolittle, Benj'n Holden. Willard Moore. Cambridge. Do.&Middl, Jonathan Brewer. Wm.Buckminster.Nathaniel Cudworth. Do, Do, 8r. do. David Brewer, Rufus Putnam. Nathaniel Danielsoa. Roxbury. Suffolk, Hon. William Heath John Graten. Jotbam Loring, Jos. Vose. Do. Hampshire. Bellj,R.Woodbrid~e. Ahijah Brown. William Stacey. Cambr. Essex. John Glover, John Gerry. GabrielJobonnot, Marblehead. Do, lltoses Little, Isaac Smith, James Collins, Cambr. Do, &Midd, Samuel Gerrish. Loammi Baldwin. James Weston. Do, Malden & Chelsea, A number of companie•, belonging to regiments at Roxbury, were at Braintree, Wey, mouth, Hingham, and other parts of Plymouth county. " The Hancock and Adams, so adroitly taken by stratagPm from a British guard in Boston. The two other pieces, taken near the same time and carri­ ed to Roxbury, were doubtless in Gen. Thomas' camp. 'l'revett t Capts. Callend"r, Bnrbeck, :f!fteett; Pierce, Chadwick, Gridley, Popkin, Crafts, Foster, and Badlam. f Appointed Brig. Maj. by Washington. 6 l3UNKElt HILL BATTLE. what the God of ~ature imposed, were moved with indignation at approaching tyranny. They flocked as volunteers to the .neighbourhood of Boston, and chose Col. Stark, Lieut. Col. Wyman, and l\Iaj. l\I'Clary their leaders. Their colonel was worthy to command this formidable band ; he had been a dis­ tinguished captain of Provincial Rangers received into the ser­ vice of the crown, was at Quebec under Gen. Wolfe, and en­ joyed half pay as a British officer, an offering he made with other sacrifices for the good of his country .-Their major also was a favourite officer. Nearly six feet and a half in height, with a Herculean form in perfect proportions, a voice like Stentor, and strength of Ajax ; ever unequalled in athletic exercises, and unsubdued in single combat, whole bodies of men had been overcome by him, and he seemed totally uncon­ scious that he was. not equally unconquerabJe at the cannon's mouth. His mind and character were of the same grand and energetic cast with his person ; and though deficient in the ad­ vantages of finished education, he had been a member of the state legislature, and his mercantile concerns were extensive.